Fully agree about the rapid fire pacing and lack of quiet moments, it feels like RTD is afraid the audience will get bored if he slows down for even a second, but it just makes the episodes feel exhausting. And I feel it's having a detrimental effect on the story and characters because we're not getting the chance to soak in the atmosphere or characters. Case in point, the scene where the Doctor upgrades Ruby's phone. I saw a post on the site formerly known as Twitter comparing the scene to the similar scene in "The End of the World", and it's remarkable how much better that earlier scene was. The dialogue leading into the scene feels more natural, there's a more tactile approach to the Doctor upgrading the phone, some fun banter while he's doing it, and we actually get a chance to see Rose process the emotions of being able to call her mum from 5 billion years in the future (also, there's no music playing for much of the scene, making the moment Rose's theme kicks in for the first time while making the call feel more impactful). By contrast, Ruby acts blasé about the whole scenario, the sequence is accomplished by the Doctor waving his sonic screwdriver, and the entire thing is blown through in about a third of the time that the 2005 scene did. It feels less like an impactful meaningful moment and more like the checking of another item on a checklist. It's annoying because Russell is still fully capable of writing scenes that are slower, quieter and more meaningful. It's part of the reason why "Wild Blue Yonder" was my favourite episode from last year, and why I thought the specials in general were mostly really solid. Even within this episode, the speech the Doctor gives to Captain Poppy about no one "growing up wrong" is a wonderful moment and an early defining scene for Ncuti's Doctor. But we barely get any scenes like that in these episodes, and it instead feels like we're just rushing through everything so we can get onto the next bit as quickly as possible. I feel like I'm not being allowed to get as invested in these stories and characters as I should be, which is a shame because I really like Ncuti and Millie and want to see how they work in a variety of situations and stories (hopefully that's what Moffat will provide for us this weekend with "Boom")
I can’t believe I just spent 7 mins watching this video thinking you were in a room with cardboard cut outs of Ncuti and Millie behind you and a low depth of field lens before I clicked that it’s a shot from the show and you’re in front of a green screen 🤦♂️🤣
I said on twitter somewhere that it felt like RTD was trying to write Season 1 and Series 14 at the same time; he wants it to be a fresh new intro but since we've had so many of them recently he wanted to really rush through it so dumped a whole load of exposition at the beginning to get it out of the way instead of naturally developing it throughout the series. Compare it to The Pilot which is perfectly paced at reintroducing the world of Doctor Who to audiences and this is such a step down from that. I get what you mean about the over-excitable nature of the characters, I wouldn't put that down as an issue with the characters personally, that's more of tonal or directing area than character writing, but Ncuti and Millie thankfully have a lot of chemistry together and that allows it to work imo. I don't think the moment where we're supposed to care for the Bogeyman worked very well, it felt like the superficial Chibnall moments where we're being told how to feel and not just trusting your script to give the audience the right feelings in the moment (compare it to the Krafayis in Vincent and the Doctor for example). Also I have no idea why the space babies suddenly cared about the wellbeing of the Bogeyman, did the Doctor change something in the system so it's not immediately terrifying anymore? Very unclear. I actually enjoyed the episode overall, I wasn't expecting much (no one was) but there were some great moments (the Doctor telling Poppy that nobody grows up is a defining moment for the character already for me) and I thought it executed what it aimed to do okayish. I wouldn't call it a good episode and there are many issues with it (the pacing was terrible, there was some bad dialogue and unclear plot developments, and a lot of it was very derivative of previous episodes with basically copy and pasted dialogue from The End of the World), but I still enjoyed it for the most part even if it was a very amateur script.
That origin era under Verity Lambert, the era under Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, The Philip Henchcliffe era, that year or so under Douglas Adams, the JNT era... then R.T. Davies, Steven Moffat, and the Chibnail era... It's too soon to be definitive, and I reserve the right to retract this statement, but I think this may be remembered as "The Disney Era." The silliness, the cuteness, the song and dance routines - they're all Disney Co. stereotypes. Well, lots of people love Disney, and it may be a way to reach a new audience too young to remember Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. 2005 was 19 years ago! We'll see as the season develops. Chibnail vowed no old monsters in his first season, and now Davies has repeated the prohibition. But there's another old saying that the "new doctor" isn't really *The Doctor* till he meet the Daleks. I do appreciate the return of the Toy Maker (et al, apparently). And I haven't heard the gossip about season 2, but I do hope there are some Daleks or Cybermen involved. YMMV, as we used to say.
I get what you're saying, but I genuinely think this is probably mostly RTD's vision, and it's what he would have wanted to do whether or not Disney were involved.
@@videoeditorbloke After Boom I may have to retract my statement indeed. Best episode in quite a while IMO, and nothing Disney about it. I hope we see more like it.
Yeah, I didn't like this one. I had the same sinking feeling that you described. Thank goodness they had two back to back episodes, as, fortunately, I loved The Devil's Chord. As for the box-ticking, I have seen some people say it seemed like the Doctor was trying to forestall problems they had with earlier companions, and I can see where the Doctor might do that all in a rush, so as not to have to deal with it later. So, I will just adopt that explanation. I think not focusing on Ruby might be intentional, as she is meant to be a bit of a mystery. I can't say if I like it or not just yet. But I do like Millie. I think she is a fine actor. I think we are going to find out that Ruby is not real; this is all just a story. She is a fairy tale character or mythical being. In fairy tales and myths children are often abandoned, kidnapped, eaten, etc.
I completely agree with all the key points you make. After thoroughly enjoying The Church on Ruby Road, I found this episode (and the second one tbh) very inconsequential and underwhelming. It felt like it was written in a rush to a tight deadline, and I’m just hoping that the rest of the series isn’t written in the same way, at the same superficial level. I did enjoy the chemistry between Ncuti and Millie, and hope this gets stronger as the series progresses.
Second comment: I also want to call to attention that Jocelyn mentions that the mysterious company told the crew to go home and leave the farm behind. Presumably, there are other abandoned farms without a Jocelyn-equivalent right? I wish a one liner had been included to navigate the morbid implications.
As an opener which was expected to get a lot of new eyes on the show with disney plus i think this was a mistake a bit too silly and i think it might put a lot of New viewers off, i think it would work better as a mid series episode devils chord was fantastic though loved the villain in that one, probably should of switched these episodes around tbh
Yeah , this was just too campy and silly for me Also totally agree with you the intro portion felt so rushed like previously we had 1-3 episodes of before they decide to go full time here their instant bffs?
The moment with the doctors changing flashback then with the snow was by far my favourite moment. By the title thought this might be my least favourite too but looking forward to watching the final cord
I found the space babies episode really creepy. And a snot monster? Really? The music episode was even worse. What has happened to the great story lines?
Great review! I thought it had good moments, and Gatwa + Gibson are brilliant! But yeah agree that overall it was pretty mediocre. Any chance of a complete soundtrack video?
I was into the episode until the moment the baby in the stroller showed up and started talking. That took me out of it, for some reason. And this is on me for having the expectation, but I was really hoping this could be another Eleventh Hour episode that I would feel comfortable recommending to my peers who are curious about the show. But I can't recommend literally any of the episodes so far... specials included.
I did not like Space Babies. Tonally it really worked for me, but plot and character wise.... oof I feel like with most of RTD2, episodes hit their emotional beats too quickly, and they don't feel earned, and often they wrap up too quickly!
"A butt-shaped space station sharts itself" was not on my bingo card for New New Who but here we are
Will you be posting the soundtrack for this episode?
Fully agree about the rapid fire pacing and lack of quiet moments, it feels like RTD is afraid the audience will get bored if he slows down for even a second, but it just makes the episodes feel exhausting. And I feel it's having a detrimental effect on the story and characters because we're not getting the chance to soak in the atmosphere or characters. Case in point, the scene where the Doctor upgrades Ruby's phone. I saw a post on the site formerly known as Twitter comparing the scene to the similar scene in "The End of the World", and it's remarkable how much better that earlier scene was. The dialogue leading into the scene feels more natural, there's a more tactile approach to the Doctor upgrading the phone, some fun banter while he's doing it, and we actually get a chance to see Rose process the emotions of being able to call her mum from 5 billion years in the future (also, there's no music playing for much of the scene, making the moment Rose's theme kicks in for the first time while making the call feel more impactful). By contrast, Ruby acts blasé about the whole scenario, the sequence is accomplished by the Doctor waving his sonic screwdriver, and the entire thing is blown through in about a third of the time that the 2005 scene did. It feels less like an impactful meaningful moment and more like the checking of another item on a checklist.
It's annoying because Russell is still fully capable of writing scenes that are slower, quieter and more meaningful. It's part of the reason why "Wild Blue Yonder" was my favourite episode from last year, and why I thought the specials in general were mostly really solid. Even within this episode, the speech the Doctor gives to Captain Poppy about no one "growing up wrong" is a wonderful moment and an early defining scene for Ncuti's Doctor. But we barely get any scenes like that in these episodes, and it instead feels like we're just rushing through everything so we can get onto the next bit as quickly as possible. I feel like I'm not being allowed to get as invested in these stories and characters as I should be, which is a shame because I really like Ncuti and Millie and want to see how they work in a variety of situations and stories (hopefully that's what Moffat will provide for us this weekend with "Boom")
I can’t believe I just spent 7 mins watching this video thinking you were in a room with cardboard cut outs of Ncuti and Millie behind you and a low depth of field lens before I clicked that it’s a shot from the show and you’re in front of a green screen 🤦♂️🤣
I said on twitter somewhere that it felt like RTD was trying to write Season 1 and Series 14 at the same time; he wants it to be a fresh new intro but since we've had so many of them recently he wanted to really rush through it so dumped a whole load of exposition at the beginning to get it out of the way instead of naturally developing it throughout the series. Compare it to The Pilot which is perfectly paced at reintroducing the world of Doctor Who to audiences and this is such a step down from that. I get what you mean about the over-excitable nature of the characters, I wouldn't put that down as an issue with the characters personally, that's more of tonal or directing area than character writing, but Ncuti and Millie thankfully have a lot of chemistry together and that allows it to work imo. I don't think the moment where we're supposed to care for the Bogeyman worked very well, it felt like the superficial Chibnall moments where we're being told how to feel and not just trusting your script to give the audience the right feelings in the moment (compare it to the Krafayis in Vincent and the Doctor for example). Also I have no idea why the space babies suddenly cared about the wellbeing of the Bogeyman, did the Doctor change something in the system so it's not immediately terrifying anymore? Very unclear. I actually enjoyed the episode overall, I wasn't expecting much (no one was) but there were some great moments (the Doctor telling Poppy that nobody grows up is a defining moment for the character already for me) and I thought it executed what it aimed to do okayish. I wouldn't call it a good episode and there are many issues with it (the pacing was terrible, there was some bad dialogue and unclear plot developments, and a lot of it was very derivative of previous episodes with basically copy and pasted dialogue from The End of the World), but I still enjoyed it for the most part even if it was a very amateur script.
2:06 YES. That's something I've always thought.
So glad to see you back Elliot! I completely agree with you on this. Very weak opener.
That origin era under Verity Lambert, the era under Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, The Philip Henchcliffe era, that year or so under Douglas Adams, the JNT era... then R.T. Davies, Steven Moffat, and the Chibnail era...
It's too soon to be definitive, and I reserve the right to retract this statement, but I think this may be remembered as "The Disney Era." The silliness, the cuteness, the song and dance routines - they're all Disney Co. stereotypes.
Well, lots of people love Disney, and it may be a way to reach a new audience too young to remember Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. 2005 was 19 years ago! We'll see as the season develops.
Chibnail vowed no old monsters in his first season, and now Davies has repeated the prohibition. But there's another old saying that the "new doctor" isn't really *The Doctor* till he meet the Daleks.
I do appreciate the return of the Toy Maker (et al, apparently). And I haven't heard the gossip about season 2, but I do hope there are some Daleks or Cybermen involved.
YMMV, as we used to say.
I get what you're saying, but I genuinely think this is probably mostly RTD's vision, and it's what he would have wanted to do whether or not Disney were involved.
@@videoeditorbloke After Boom I may have to retract my statement indeed. Best episode in quite a while IMO, and nothing Disney about it. I hope we see more like it.
Yeah, I didn't like this one. I had the same sinking feeling that you described. Thank goodness they had two back to back episodes, as, fortunately, I loved The Devil's Chord.
As for the box-ticking, I have seen some people say it seemed like the Doctor was trying to forestall problems they had with earlier companions, and I can see where the Doctor might do that all in a rush, so as not to have to deal with it later. So, I will just adopt that explanation.
I think not focusing on Ruby might be intentional, as she is meant to be a bit of a mystery. I can't say if I like it or not just yet. But I do like Millie. I think she is a fine actor.
I think we are going to find out that Ruby is not real; this is all just a story. She is a fairy tale character or mythical being. In fairy tales and myths children are often abandoned, kidnapped, eaten, etc.
Sorry I liked the whole episode and seeing the scene played out from the end of the world again I really liked that
What farting spaceships and snot monsters and all that childlike humour? It was crap mate but if you enjoy that kind of stuff good for you.
the 60th anniversary was great but Ncuti's first three episodes havent been great
I completely agree with all the key points you make. After thoroughly enjoying The Church on Ruby Road, I found this episode (and the second one tbh) very inconsequential and underwhelming. It felt like it was written in a rush to a tight deadline, and I’m just hoping that the rest of the series isn’t written in the same way, at the same superficial level. I did enjoy the chemistry between Ncuti and Millie, and hope this gets stronger as the series progresses.
Are you going to be doing any Ker-VAM discussions for this series? It always interesting to hear you all talking about stuff in the show together.
Yep we've already recorded one! Will likely be out on Wednesday :)
Second comment: I also want to call to attention that Jocelyn mentions that the mysterious company told the crew to go home and leave the farm behind. Presumably, there are other abandoned farms without a Jocelyn-equivalent right? I wish a one liner had been included to navigate the morbid implications.
As an opener which was expected to get a lot of new eyes on the show with disney plus i think this was a mistake a bit too silly and i think it might put a lot of New viewers off, i think it would work better as a mid series episode devils chord was fantastic though loved the villain in that one, probably should of switched these episodes around tbh
Yeah , this was just too campy and silly for me
Also totally agree with you the intro portion felt so rushed like previously we had 1-3 episodes of before they decide to go full time here their instant bffs?
4:50
The moment with the doctors changing flashback then with the snow was by far my favourite moment. By the title thought this might be my least favourite too but looking forward to watching the final cord
I found the space babies episode really creepy. And a snot monster? Really? The music episode was even worse. What has happened to the great story lines?
Great review! I thought it had good moments, and Gatwa + Gibson are brilliant! But yeah agree that overall it was pretty mediocre. Any chance of a complete soundtrack video?
I was into the episode until the moment the baby in the stroller showed up and started talking. That took me out of it, for some reason. And this is on me for having the expectation, but I was really hoping this could be another Eleventh Hour episode that I would feel comfortable recommending to my peers who are curious about the show. But I can't recommend literally any of the episodes so far... specials included.
I did not like Space Babies. Tonally it really worked for me, but plot and character wise.... oof
I feel like with most of RTD2, episodes hit their emotional beats too quickly, and they don't feel earned, and often they wrap up too quickly!
The character development was lacking in the Chibnall era? Moffat era maybe.
Worst episode of Dr. Who ever since "Timelash" this was written for 5 year olds.